Lent

 

Friends,

Today is Transfiguration Sunday. And on Wednesday Lent begins with smudges of ASH. The hope is that the vision we receive on the Mount of Transfiguration somehow sustains us when we are in the wilderness valley surrounded by sickness and suffering and sand and more sand. May this be so…

Our ASH Wednesday (zoom) service will begin at 8 p.m. We will meet every Wednesday of Lent at 8 p.m. for a Lenten reflection. A zoom link will be sent out on the CMM WhatsApp group. If you would like the link please email welcome@cmm.org.za

This past Wednesday some of us gathered online to prepare for Lent. We were reminded of the beautiful documentary called: My Octopus Teacher. The reason for the documentary in the first place was that a certain film maker who was suffering from burnout, made a commitment to enter the ocean every day for a year with the hope of renewal and reconnection to self and Life. In this act of daily “baptism” / commitment, the film maker was doing what people seeking renewal in just about every faith tradition have done for centuries: and that is to deliberately design one’s day to Pause. Pause consisting of a combination of silence, stillness, solitude. This Pause often involved an immersion in nature. We learn from The Octopus Teacher – that when a person honours their journey for healing with deliberate daily pause – they are gifted with renewed reconnection with themselves and Life and all that lives, and over and above that, the world is given the gift of a beautiful reconnecting story.

This Lent we are invited to deliberately design our days with Pause – silence, stillness and solitude. Our Wednesday Lenten reflections will draw partly from these moments of Pause.

Please note: We will not be opening the sanctuary for in-person services any time soon, even though Covid-19 regulations make this possible.

The reason remains that it is still too risky even though we are coming to the end of the “second wave”. In all likelihood there will be a third wave before we have all been vaccinated. And if trends continue, the third wave may prove to be more deadly than the first and second. For example, this week we were informed by our Covid-19 advisory team that “during the first wave it took three months to reach 5 000 deaths while the second wave took only four weeks to reach 10 000 deaths.

We therefore need to be very vigilant in these days. Keep practicing the Trinity: wear a mask, wash hands, keep 1.5 m distance.

In grace,
Alan

Desire nothing but God

 Mr Wesley the founder of the Methodist Movement.

He travelled over 400 000 km (mostly on horseback)
and preached over 52 000 sermons.
This meant that he preached around 2-3 times a day for 53 years.

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If you want to know with 100% certainty if it is going to rain or not — just check when the Methodists are having their annual Synod. Yes, over the last week about 290 of us have been attending the 185th Synod of the Cape of Good Hope District which took place in Wynberg.

Synod is always a reminder to me of the broader family to which I belong. It is inspiring to be reminded of those who have gone before us with great courage for the Gospel and then to listen to fresh candidates for the ministry bubbling with enthusiasm as they share their call to preach and serve. We listened with the words of John Wesley echoing in the background:

“Give me one hundred ministers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergy or lay, such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the Kingdom of God on Earth.”

And Wesley’s terrifying warning:

“I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist … but I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect having the form of religion without its power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast the doctrine, spirit and discipline with which they first set out.”

Synod is also the place where we are held accountable. Parents know that children need and actually desire boundaries and guidelines no matter how they may throw tantrums in opposition to it. Well, clergy are like children! What we may dread and resist we know deep down we actually need. There is something profoundly comforting to know that others are “watching over us in love” and that we are called to give an account of who we are.

I hope all of us will seek out places of accountability for ourselves in our living. Please consider signing up for Warm Winter Worship — small groups that will gather in people’s homes during winter to reflect on our faith journey together.

Grace, Alan